By Robin Strachan, Assistant Director

Little children love to help Mom and Dad in the kitchen -- in just about any capacity.  The challenge for parents, of course, is allowing a toddler to explore cooking and clean-up with a minimum of fuss and mess.  It can be enormously rewarding for both parents and children to prepare family meals and snacks together at home. 

From about the age of 15 months, children are able to participate in food preparation and cleaning up the kitchen.  You will need to provide a low work surface or a stool at the kitchen counter.  Child-size tools, such as brooms and mops, make the job fun and less frustrating for the child.

Toddlers are capable of having fun at just about any task, and they love to imitate adults.   Believe it or not, they really are able to be helpful!  For example, a toddler can:

tear up lettuce

wash fruits and vegetables

slice fruits such as strawberries and melon with a plastic knife

peel hard-boiled eggs

pour water or liquid a cup at a time into a pot or mixing bowl

stir batter

spread peanut butter, butter or cream cheese

knead dough

roll out dough and cut out cookies

set the table

wash dishes

carry a dish into the kitchen (not a full plate of spaghetti!)

load the dishwasher (just don't allow him to sit on top of the door)

scrub the counter and table with a sponge

sweep and mop the floor with child-sized tools

put groceries and dishes away in low cabinets

feed the family pets

By patiently showing your child each step in these activities and providing appropriate tools, the child will become quite capable in the kitchen.  It only takes a few extra minutes and you will be teaching your child lifelong skills.  By including children in daily activities, rather than excluding or distracting them, we are allowing them to contribute to the family in whatever way they are able.   

The following recipe is another fun way to spend time together:

                                           CRISPY CHEESY STARS

             Wish upon a star ... and then munch it!

For this recipe, you'll need two star-shaped cookie cutters, one slightly smaller than the other.  Heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Help your child cut out stars from flour tortillas.  It's easy for kids to do if they use a rolling pin to roll back and forth over the cutter.

Bake the stars on a foil-covered cookie sheet for 5 minutes.

Help your child to use the smaller cookie cutter to cut out an equal number of stars from cheese slices and ask her to arrange the small cheese stars on top of the bigger tortilla stars.  Bake the stars for two more im inutes or until the cheese melts.

Allow your child to sprinkle the stars with paprika from a shaker.  Before eating, make a wish together!